Processing: Images were captured in Artemis Capture (as FITs). Aligned/stacked
in Registax 4 and saved as FITS. Luminance and Color channels were numerically
scaled and color balanced in Astroart. Channels were co-registered
in Astroart. Central Gradient removal was performed on the L,R,G,B stacked
masters. The IR Block exposure was used as the luminance channel. Curves and
Levels applied in Photoshop to optimize object features. Final LRGB
combine was done in Photoshop using Luminance Layering (or LLRGB). Clouds
and wind forced relatively short data collection over two nights. Selective sharpening with layer mask was applied to
galaxy features. Light noise reduction was performed using PixInsight
LE. Final touches were done in Photoshop. Final
Image size is approximately 1392x1040.

North is up in this image. M61 is a spiral galaxy and a larger member of
Virgo galaxy cluster. M61 is estimated to be similar in size to our own
Milky Way galaxy. It is a distance of about 60 million light years distant from
Earth. In this image field are also smaller Galaxies - NGC 4301 (left)
and NGC 4292 (upper right). Yet even smaller galaxy, PGC 213977 (far upper
right) can bee seen. Horizontal FOV is about 21'